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Advice - The ol' "Square" TV & Hyperspin

SkyHighGam3r

By SkyHighGam3r
in HyperSpin

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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So I generally see 2 kinds of setups when it comes to screens here.

1.) CRT Monitors (usually in arcade cabinets)
2.) LCD/LED/Plasma etc Screens

What I am wondering though, is has anybody setup their system to be played through an old "Square TV"? (Are these considered CRT?)

I'm talking like the TV you would have actually plugged your NES/Genesis into.
Like straight up, Composite  and/or RF input Old School TVs.

I used to plug my PC into a TV that took Component inputs, but that's the lowest quality signal I've ever output via PC. (My card supported it directly)

I noticed Amazon.com has some HDMI to Composite converters for roughly 20$, and was thinking it would be kind of cool to hook it up that way. My choice of inputs are Yellow/White (Mono Composite) or RF/Antenna. (Honestly RF would be ideal, but I'd like to explore both options)

Has anyone worked on this kind of mad science before? I can't imagine resolution being much of a factor given that it's an analogue signal on the receiving end.

Just to clarify a little, the particular TV I am talking about is a 13" JVC VCR Combo. (Yes I know that's incredibly small)

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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That is some mad science! I haven't mess with a crt tv in like forever. But I would guess a vga to composite adapter would probably work. Or you could try this link

 

http://hackaday.com/2013/06/17/modifying-a-crt-television-for-use-as-an-arcade-monitor/

Actually I don't have a VGA-out on my PC's video card lol It's got 1x HDMI, 2x Display Ports, 1x DVI-D

The link is interesting though, trying to convert the actual functions. A bit too technical for me I'm afraid haha.

Some of the converter boxes I had been looking at on Amazon aren't getting great reviews.

I figure there's gotta be a way to get the signal to output to at least the White/Yellow Composite.

Anything to get it hooked to that TV lol.

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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lol boy that video had some bad editing eh?

Thank you though, that points me to a product brand that at least seems legit. A lot of these seem like they come from third-rate hong-kong sweat shops lol.
It is a bit pricey, though it looks like they sell a simpler model on that same amazon page that just gets rid of the S-video output (which I don't need anyway :) )

I'll have to keep it in my wallets mind. I was hoping to find a simple cable when I started researching, but given the need to convert from Digital to Analogue, that's not happening lol.

Still, I'd find it hard to believe if no one else has done this before.

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Metalzoic Newbie

Metalzoic

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What I am wondering though, is has anybody setup their system to be played through an old "Square TV"? (Are these considered CRT?)

Yeah. That's just a normal CRT tv.

But I'm curious why do you want to hook it up to a 13" vcr/combo tv? The adapter will cost more than the TV is worth.

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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Yeah. That's just a normal CRT tv.

But I'm curious why do you want to hook it up to a 13" vcr/combo tv? The adapter will cost more than the TV is worth.

Well, the short answer is: Because I can! lol I'd like it to be able to hook to any/every TV possible.

On a more nostalgic note though: I had a 13"JVC VCR Combo from 1990 (age 2) to 2008 (age 20). That TV was used for my Telestar Alpha, Intellivision, NES, Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Wii & even my Xbox 360 (Before I started running into issues with HD necessary games like Dead Rising) I recorded every episode of Extreme Ghostbusters on that VCR, Countless HBO movies, and even made a "Sonic Adventure - The Movie" when I realized I could record gameplay with it. I finally burned out the VCR in '08 and had just bought a 720P Flat screen CRT... so I bid it farewell after 18 years of solid service and donated it to the local thrift store....

I managed to get my hands on another one a couple of months ago. It's almost the exact same TV, just a newer model than I had as a child. While I now have my old physical consoles hooked up to it. I think it would be really cool to hook this bad-boy up. As it stands the only consoles I own that have never been hooked up to it are the PS4, X1, and Wii U. So... in a way... that is kind of the way it's 'meant to be played' for me if history has anything to say about it haha.

You know... writing it out like this has made me realize really how much I really used that old TV... It's amazing.

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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I was reading in a forum about using shaders on CRTs that you need to downscale the video signal for the best quality.

My PC's video card's lowest resolution (In display settings) Is 800x600.

Now, I remember from setting up my wii that 480i was the composite cable setting, but I've also seen people talk constantly about 240p.

What would the native resolution for that kind of TV be??

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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You could even go to an older TV that used RF, and hook up an RF modulator to an A/V receiver output and get it on channel 3.  Remember channel 3!? haha.

 

Actually I was just looking at RF Modulator's last night! haha. Precisely because of channel 3! I read that a lot of old VCR's can do this same thing though, so I'll pull mine out of the closet and check. Save me 10 bucks and having to use a power-brick.

When I was a kid I had this wild idea, for some reason, that RF connections were higher quality then Composite ( I think because it 'screwed' into the TV, I thought it was more legit or something. ) ... so I stuck with RF all the way through my XBOX days. >.<

I just ordered a converter this morning for HDMI to Composite, so I'll post some pics or a video when it gets here next weekend. Seems like an absurd shipping time for something so small to ship from California over to Utah... but what can you do?

As far as resolution, it seems that 240p is a bit misleading when referencing these old signals.

Turns out the native resolution on old NTSC TVs is 480i.

I still am not sure what the difference between interlaced and progressive is, that is to say, how it differs VISUALLY to the observer... but I'll get there.

Just can't wait to try this out...

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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I GOT THE ADAPTER!!!

Yay it came like 2 days early!!!!

Ok, so I'm trying to hook this up and get a black and white picture that just rolls and flickers on the screen. Checking the manual, I need to set my desktop to 720x480.

But in Display Properties, the lowest I can go is 800x600!

I found a 'custom resolution' part of my GPU settings, but I don't understand how to use it (SO MANY OPTIONS!!!!) AND AND AAAAAND it says if I do it wrong I could break my setup!!!

Please help!!!

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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This piece of crap won't flip over to NTSC.

There's a little slider on the side for PAL NTSC, but no matter what I do it tries to output to PAL.

EDIT:

UPDATE.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I spoke with the seller of this item, and they admitted to me that the switch is "Completely Useless" and "Just for decoration".

Do NOT buy one of these cheap little "HDMI2AV" boxes unless you own a PAL tv set.

I'm going to put this aspect of my project to the side for the time being... a proper convert is 40-60 bucks, and it's not high priority at this time on the to-do list. I'll come back to it later.

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SkyHighGam3r Newbie

SkyHighGam3r

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HDMI to composite might be a little difficult to do. This one on amazon might work but it's a little pricey. But check the questions and reviews.

 

http://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-JTD-HDMITOCSV-Universal-Composite/dp/B00GA4Y6U0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460332970&sr=8-1&keywords=J-Tech+Digital+Universal+HDMI+to+Composite

 

 

I should have just gone with this one in the first place lol, that's what I get for being a cheap ****.

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